I would like to thank Francis Harrison of Norton for responding to my letter (Spare The Rod Spoil The Child).

My husband has asked me to respond, not to condone abuse of children, but to emphasise that strong discipline is essential.

When he was a boy at school, in the 1930s, teachers used the cane for misdemeanours such as throwing ink pellets, fighting in the playground and other acts that you would, no doubt, consider trivial.

He thought it was awful at the time. When Don told his mother, she said, "You must have got what you deserved." Don's mother, a widow, sent him out to buy a long bamboo cane, "So that I can reach you," she said, and did!

Whenever a teacher walked into a classroom during the 1930s and 1940s you could hear a pin drop.

Nowadays experienced teachers are leaving the profession because they are expected not to discipline the children at all.